D&AD Awards 2014: Pick up a Pencil!

52 Yellow Pencils, two White Pencils and a record seven Black Pencils for truly ground-breaking work, were awarded to design and advertising industry winners last night, at the 2014 D&AD Awards.

Battersea crackled with energy again, as frantically tweeting fingers, high fives and dancing feet powered the awards ceremony. And, with Therefore’s ‘GravityLight’ awarded the only UK-won Black and White Pencils, energy was definitely one of the buzzing words of the evening.

Click on the image to play the campaign video

For our Brand Activation May creative showcase, we featured pieces of work from the D&AD Awards 2014 judging exhibition picked by creative team members at Arc WW and N2O for their design and or innovation.

You can find out if the judges agreed with the teams’ selection here!

Reviewing the New York Festivals International Advertising Awards, my Brand Activation Council colleague, Richard Dutton, was struck by the number of campaigns entered from Brazil.

Nothing stops great ideas and executions, and the Carnival has sambaed across the Atlantic, with 26 Brazilian entries featuring in the D&AD Awards book, and two Yellow Pencils awarded to Ogilvy & Mather Brazil for one of my favourite campaigns from the past couple of years:

Campaign: Dove “Real Beauty Sketches”
Client: Unilever
Agency: Ogilvy & Mather Brazil

Watching the video again, I remember the first time someone shared a link with me to this campaign.

Click on the image to play the campaign video

It made me stop. It made me think. It made me share it with my friends, my family, my colleagues.

Campaign: “Life Signs”
Client: La Voz del Interior
Agency: Ogilvy & Mather Buenos Aires

My second selection from the Pencil winners is another Ogilvy & Mather South American campaign, from neighbouring Argentina.

Car accidents are the top cause of death in the Argentine province of Córdoba. Traditional warning and speed limit road signs had no effect in reducing fatalities, simply becoming part of the usual roadscape to drivers. So, the region’s most popular newspaper teamed up with the local authority and Ogilvy & Mather Buenos Aires to create an impactful safety awareness campaign.

Is this the ultimate in car recycling? I hope you enjoy the video, and would welcome your comments.

Click on the image to play the campaign video

By DMA guest blogger, Heather Devany, Creative Director at N2O Limited and DMA Brand Activation Council member

Each month, the Creative Hub of the Brand Activation Council seeks out inspiring work, to share here, on the DMA Blog.